• Are you eligible to use the Library?
• What do I need to bring with me?
• Checking the Library's catalogue before travelling
• Ordering items in advance
• Going to the right Library site
• Obtaining a Library pass
• Lost, stolen or forgotten Library cards for external users
• Photocopying
• Electronic resources and computing facilities

Please consult the separate Membership web pages to find out whether or not you are entitled to use the Library.

From 24th September 2007, all non-UCL users (including UCL Alumni) applying for access to the UCL Library Services must produce:

• proof of address (home and institutional, where relevant) AND
• photographic proof of identity AND
• credentials to indicate status / eligibility for library use (e.g. SCONUL Access Band "A" card, UCL Alumni Association card), when making their application.

Acceptable proof of identity is:

1. Valid photocard driving licence
2. Valid passport
3. Institutional ID, including the bearer's photo, from another Higher Education Institution.
4. Institutional ID, including the bearer's photo, from an M25 scheme affiliated Institution.
5. Institutional ID, including the bearer's photo, from one of UCL's affiliated NHS trusts.
6. Valid British Library ID card.

Acceptable proof of institutional address is:

1. Institutional ID, including the bearer's photo, from another Higher Educatio n Institution.
2. Institutional ID, including the bearer's photo, from an M25 scheme affiliate d Institution
3. Institutional ID, including the bearer's photo, from one of UCL's affiliated NHS trusts.
4. School of Pharmacy validation form (SoP applicants only).

Acceptable proof of home address is:

1. Recent utilily / council tax bill (no more than three months old)
2. Recent bank statement (no more than three months old)
3. Valid driving licence
4. School of Pharmacy validation form (SoP applicants only)

Applications will not be accepted without sufficient proof of identity and address. One form of ID can fill more than one role (eg. a photocard driving license is acceptable both as proof of identity and home address). Documents present must be the originals (photocopies are not acceptable).

Users applying for borrowing access must also provide a passport sized photograph. This is used to make up your Library card.

Please check the Library's online catalogue eUCLid before travelling to ensure that we have the material you require, whether it has to be ordered in advance and that you know which Library site to visit.

When you search for a book on eUCLid, the results displayed will tell you at which site the item is held and whether or not it is currently out on loan.

So, for example, "Main (1/0)" means that the book is held in the Main Library and that we have one copy, but none are out on loan i.e. it should be available. "Science (2/1)" would mean that two copies are held in the Science Library and that someone has borrowed one, and so on.

Any book or journal with the shelfmark Store must be ordered 1-2 working days in advance. This can be done online and you do not have to have already joined to make a request.

UCL Library Services consists of a number of different sites. Most, but not all, are within walking distance of the main UCL campus. Maps and local opening hours are available.

When you arrive at the Library, you must first register and obtain a Library pass. This can be done at whichever Library site you intend to visit (see above).

Your first visit must be made during Issue Desk opening hours.

You should bring some personal ID with you. If you are joining on the basis that you are from another university, or you are a member of an organisation which has an arrangement with UCL, the onus is on you to bring clear proof of this (e.g. a university ID card or letter of introduction).

In particular, if you are a research postgraduate please make sure that the ID you bring clearly indicates your research status, as PhD and MPhil students are entitled to different library privileges from taught-course students. If this is not clear from your student ID card, you are advised to bring a letter of introduction from your home institution.

If you are applying for a borrowing card you must provide a passport-sized photograph.

If you are a category of visitor who must pay to use the Library, please ensure you bring payment with you.

It is not necessary to arrange your visit in advance or to let us know that you are planning to visit unless you are intending to join on a paying basis for more than a month, in which case you must contact the Head of Membership first.

Your UCL Library card is important - please take care of it. You will not be admitted without it and you will be charged for its replacement.

From 24th September 2007, UCL Library Services will charge a fee of £7.00 for the replacement of all Library only ID cards, reference or borrowing, that have been lost, forgotten or otherwise misplaced.

Note - Unless you belong to a category of user that must pay for access, no charge is made for the initial registration, only for the replacement of lost / forgotten ID cards. Replacement charges are not levied for the replacement of cards that have expired or are within one calendar month of expiry. Also, if a card has become damaged but can be returned to the Library, it will be replaced without charge.

Visitors to the Library can make photocopies. To do this you must buy a rechargeable card costing £1.00. Copying credits cost 5p a copy.

Please bring £1 coins to operate the photocopy card dispenser and small change to add credit to it. We are not able to provide change for you.

Further information about photocopying, including Colour photocopying, is available.

For licensing reasons, non-UCL members cannot consult UCL Library Services' electronic resources offsite, but we do have a number of dedicated terminals from which certain resources can be accessed.

Pages may be printed, subject to copyright restrictions, and subject to the scale of charges in place at the time (which may differ between library sites). It is also possible, again subject to copyright restrictions, to save copies of documents to a USB storage device (for more details, see the Terms of access).

Please note that this Service is only available when the site's Issue Desk is open.

To see which ejournals may be accessed through the service, visit the UCL Library Services listings and Switch to Detail View. All the journals listed there are available to visitors, with the exception of those marked Note: Not available to users of Library Services' "walk-in" electronic resources service

There is also a list of bibliographic databases and other resources which may be accessed through the service.

There are no PCs available for general use or internet access.

It is possible to bring a laptop into the Library with you.

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Last modified 6 January 2010